For over 60 years, lithium has proved most effective in the treatment of Bipolar Disorder. Blood lithium levels must be closely monitored to prevent toxicity, but compliance with the regular blood test requirement falls below standard and is associated with high rates of treatment non-adherence with consequent relapse of illness
The study proposes a novel opto-impedance technique, that combines high specificity and sensitivity attributes of optical and electrical impedance methods into a personal lithium analyser for use by patients. Results demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed technique and its ability to offer a solution for rapid assessment of lithium.